"Words are things; and a small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions think."
~ Lord Byron

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Publishing with Kindle

Recently I have been reading blogs of several authors who have taken the leap into publishing for the Kindle Reader at amazon.com

For some authors, it has been books never before published and for others it is their unpublished works.

So with enough on my plate as always, I decided I needed an added challenge! So I have published three books with Kindle this past week.

The first one I decided to do was my novella, The Masquerading Cowboy, a short I wrote some time back and won a writing contest with it. I decided I would try formatting it myself for the Kindle and I was having problems with the formatting such as putting in a cover graphic within the text, and feeling uneasy. So I contacted Joshua at Kindle Formatting and in a few days he had my book formatted and ready for me to upload at Kindle.

But one book did not satisfy me so I did a second one, a nonfiction, A Meeting of the Minds: 19th Century Poet-Philosophers Explore Spirituality, and formatted it myself with some trial and error. I know a little about html coding and actually was able to read the html and correct a few little flaws. It took a few uploads and going through the preview of it a few times, but I finally got it!

So my success with formatting led me to publish a third one, Exclusive Interview With Richard S. Prather, Author of the Best-Selling Shell Scott Mystery Series.

I also began to thinking about my other books and putting them into Kindle editions. So I decided to do two of my published novels and The Dawning and Roulette will be Kindle editions in the coming weeks. I decided not to tackle the formatting on those myself but left it up to my publisher to do so.

I work with my web designer, Judy on my book covers. I give her the idea of what I want and she comes up with it. So if anyone needs a cover for a Kindle book, an ebook, or a POD, visit her website.

One day I may have to break down and buy a Kindle Reader. I only know one person with a Kindle and she really likes it.

I don’t know where publishing is going as the economy has definitely affected the business and in turn all of us authors. Many authors are looking at alternative choices such as self publishing, PODs, ebooks, and Kindle editions. There are pros and cons in moving away from traditional publishing, the main thing being distribution and ending up with only online bookstores and not in brick and mortar stores. Some people will always want the physical book in their hands, not a reading device. But it appears over these last years or so people are very willing to read downloaded books on their reading devices or computer screens. And this young generation is exposed to computer technology at such a early age, sometimes pre-school, they may always prefer to use a computer or reader instead of a paper book. After all, many of them do text or tweet all the time from their handheld devices.

In 2002 I wrote an article about ebooks versus print books and quoted N.Y. agent, Richard Curtis, a well known New York Literary Agent and president of E-reads, an electronic publishing company. He had this to say, January 7, 2002, in a "Publishers Weekly Magazine" article: "How long are we going to endure skeptics telling us that nobody wants to read on screen, when thousands are paying do so every day?" He also stated in response to critics, "Those of us making money in e-books, delivering thousands of downloads every month, paying royalties to authors and publishers, have to wonder what planet these pundits are on." I agreed with Curtis then, and still do.

Will it replace library bookshelves? Probably not, but it may in time drastically change the book market. After all, the world is changing. And probably most of us are using technology now that we never dreamed of a few years ago. Isn’t that right?

1 comment:

Thanks for this fascinating post. Your plate is full and you always seem to take on more. Good luck on your collaboration with Kindle. I am starting to see people using them as they wait for appointments.

About Me

Welcome and Enjoy!

I am a published writer. When asked what I write I often say my writing goes from “flying angels to flying bullets.” When I receive those curious looks it may be because I fail to say, “not in the same book.”

I write nonfiction books about angels and spirit communication with the Other Side, Spiritualism, and UFOs. I also write mysteries, suspense, and historical novels, and I have scripted Comic books.

Some of my writing was with my late husband, Don Pendleton, father of the Action/Adventure literary genre, creator of The Executioner: Mack Bolan Series, the Joe Copp Private Eye Series, and the Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective Series.

I have published a Kindle ebook edition of our popular nonfiction book, To Dance With Angels, which was first published in 1990. I am delighted to now have it available for Kindle, in print, and audio.

As if my books don’t keep me busy enough, I now have four Blogs, this one, and my World of Spirit Blog and the two listed below. I suppose I should mention, my four websites...they are listed in the side panel below.

I have a Ragdoll kitten, Max, and he keeps me busy keeping him out of trouble! And I am convinced he is part dog. I hope you enjoy reading the eclectic posts and please feel free to share your thoughts with me.

Favorite Quotes

"Words are things; and a small drop of ink,falling like dew upon a thought, producesthat which makes thousands, perhaps millions think."~ Lord Byron

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is."~ Albert Einstein

"Peace is possible. It can begin simply, over a game of chess and a cup of tea."~ Mattie J.T. Stepanek (1990-2004)"Live Large!" ~Don Pendleton (1927-1995)"We must be willing to get rid of the life we planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." ~Joseph Campbell (1904-1987)